Chapter 14. This Master is Skilled in All Aspects

The next day was a Wednesday.

Daphnne and Azalea walked to school together, feeling quite eager to meet their new friend. They passed by an alleyway, completely unaware of the danger lurking nearby. All of a sudden, Daphnne felt something pull on her arm. She was surprised, "Eh?"

Then, she was pulled into the alleyway.

"Daphnne?" Azalea was caught off guard. He quickly ran into the alleyway, only to be cornered by a bunch of youngsters, who wore the same school uniform as them.

The youngsters were clearly from the same school; S Academy.

"What do you want?" Daphnne's arm was held. She couldn't escape from its strong grasp. For once, Daphnne found the desire to become stronger.

"Be quiet." One of the youngsters deadpanned. His voice was hoarse as he attempted to whisper, "Stop hanging around the Young Master of the Duke Rubius household. I see you two always calling him 'Lucilline' and 'Lucilline', don't you know how disrespectful that is to such a nobleman? Oh yeah, I forgot. You two are both parent-less and lower class commoners... No wonder you guys are so brave."

"Hey." Azalea snapped. "Mind your own business."

The youngsters refused to do so. They inched closer to the silver-haired handsome man, sneering and spitting on his face, "We have an offer to you pigs from the countryside. Why don't you stop hanging around the Young Master of the Duke Rubius household... in return that we stop messing around with you?"

Daphnne didn't understand. "Why should we?"

"Huh?" The youngsters held onto her arm tighter, with the grip becoming strong. "You pigs think you're so good and all... just because you've gotten close to the Young Master of the Duke Rubius' household?"

"Ow." Daphnne winced.

Azalea hurriedly knocked the youngsters' grip off of Daphnne, "Get your filthy hands off of her."

"You should really think twice before talking back." The youngster sneered, "If you want a fight, then let's do it. We're not afraid. However..." His gaze darkened immensely, "Do you truly want the Young Master of the Duke Rubius household to know that... you've beaten someone up? That you've gone and done something horrible... hurting a student off school property?"

Azalea gritted his teeth. The youngsters were right. Azalea cared much about righteousness. He also cared about Lucilline's opinion of him. Beating up those youngsters only made him look like the bad guy. And Lucilline was such a righteous person... if he'd caught wind of what happened...

Daphnne clutched at her childhood friend's arm, then pleaded, "Come on, Az... let's get out of here..."

"Not so fast." The youngsters retorted. "It's so simple. All you have to do is avoid the Young Master of the Duke Rubius household." If there were people infatuated with the main characters, naturally, there will be people infatuated with the villain.

"Have you forgotten who we are?" The youngsters cackled. "We're noblemen. Our fathers can directly crush you under their stacks of gold coins!"

Daphnne shuddered. She'd never gotten bullied before back in the countryside.

"We've heard that you pigs are living in an inn. Well, our fathers can directly bankrupt that inn! Then, where else would you pigs stay? In the pigs den? That is indeed befitting." The youngsters snickered.

Azalea's head was lowered. Shadows covered his ugly expression, making the air thicken.

"Fine." He sighed. "Just... don't do anything to the inn. The inn owner is innocent."

Daphnne's eyes widened. She'd never seen her childhood friend give up so easily. She'd always known that Azalea was a man of great righteousness. He wouldn't stoop low to actually harm anyone. However, he shouldn't hesitate so much when it comes to teaching a few hooligans their manners... right?

Azalea was capable of many things. He even subdued a thief two days ago!

How come...

"Good boy." The youngsters laughed. Their laughter was like a bunch of animals squealing in the barn, "We'll do you guys a favour and stop messing around. However, if we see you even come close to the Young Master... well, you pigs know what'll happen."

They stopped surrounding Azalea and Daphnne. "Better get to school fast." The youngsters ran off into the distance. Once their figures weren't to be seen, the two commoners could finally relax.

Daphnne stopped clutching at Azalea. "Az... why did you give up so fast?"

Azalea didn't look at her. "You know. If we provoke them... the inn owner might be involved, and we can't do that. After all, it is the inn owner who gave us a place to stay. He also doesn't earn a lot of money... so, going bankrupt just because of us..."

"We can tell Lucilline about this! He's a nobleman and his status is higher than those pesky flies! He can stop the inn from going bankrupt!" Daphnne retorted. She believed that Lucilline wouldn't care, even if they beat up those youngsters.

She expected to see Azalea in relief.

Instead, Azalea glared at her. Those amethyst purple eyes were full of unbelievable exasperation. "Daphnne, do you hear yourself right now? You want us to... rely on Lucilline's power and hierarchy? Then... doesn't that make us lower than 'pesky flies'?"

Daphnne's expression sunk. "So... you just want us to lose our new friend...?"

She sighed, then shook her head, "Fine, whatever you say, Az." But deep down in her mind, she thought, Azalea, I never knew that you are a person who gives up so fast on their friendship. That isn't righteous at all.

As they headed towards school, a figure lurked out from the shadows.

The figure belonged to a skinny and hunched-back man. On his cheek was the tattoo of an ominous letter 'M'. He was a reincarnator, and muttered to himself in a hushed voice, "Strange... in the original novel, Azalea beat up the youngsters while protecting the heroine. However this time... the plot has changed. He didn't stand up, instead, he let the bullies have their way."

The tattooed man sighed. "I need to report this to Boss."

What he didn't know was... someone else was watching him as well.

*****

Lucilline was leaning against the school's inside walls. He waited in the corridor, looking more nonchalant than he could ever be.

All of a sudden, he rose from the wall.

"L-Lucilline!" Daphnne squeaked. She and Azalea had used majority of their brains, trying to figure out a stealth plan in avoiding their new friend. However, they'd just entered school, and they were caught already!

"Yo." Lucilline waved.

The nobleman looked quite happy to see them. Daphnne hesitated. She looked up in Azalea's direction, waiting for his orders. Azalea wanted to walk past the nobleman. He didn't want the innkeeper to go bankrupt, so he must avoid Lucilline at all costs-

"Hey, what happened to your arm?" Daphnne stiffened, as she was touched.

Lucilline examined the heroine's arm, which had a red mark from being held so tightly. A frown played on the great villain's lips.

"L-Lucilline..." Daphnne couldn't help but turn nervous.

Lucilline blanked out for a moment. When he came to, an ugly expression was on his face. "Daphnne... could you tell me who hurt you?"

Daphnne's heart raced. What should she do?

"Uh..." She turned to Azalea for help.

Lucilline stood up, "I know it's not Azalea. Come on, fess up and tell me who it is."

Out of the corner of her eyes, Daphnne saw a few students entering the school. Those students looked extremely familiar... they were the youngsters who cornered her and Az!

Catching her gaze, Lucilline let go of her.

"Come with me." He ran to the youngsters.

When the youngsters looked up, they found a beautiful young man smiling at them. In an instant, the youngsters' hearts began beating erratically.

"Of course!" They obeyed.

Following after Lucilline's back, the group walked down the corridor. Feeling hesitant, Azalea and Daphnne crept behind them. The two protagonists watched how the youngsters followed Lucilline into an empty bathroom, with the door slamming shut.

Then, came the loud howling screams.

"AHHHHH!!!"

Daphnne cupped her ears, feeling her mind stinging from a headache. "What in the world... is going on inside there?"

Azalea grimaced.

Nobody knew what was happening inside the bathroom. Suddenly, the sound of screams had died down. The door of the bathroom had been whipped open, with the youngsters running out. They collapsed onto the corridor, with bruises littered all over their faces.

Broken teeth littered their mouth, with blood leaking out from the corner.

"Run!" They fled, with their figures disappearing down the hallway.

Azalea worriedly looked at Lucilline, who calmly exited the bathroom. "Isn't this too... cruel and hasty? Why did you beat them up? What if they tell on you..."

Lucilline calmly waved his worries away. "Who do you think I am? Those goons wouldn't dare to mess with me."

Hearing that, Azalea relaxed.

"L-Lucilline..." Daphnne was like a small white rabbit. She stammered on the spot, "Are you okay? Was it you who beat those flies up? Their faces look like it's almost disfigured..."

Lucilline flexed his wrists. He smiled charmingly, "Of course!"

After hearing that, Daphnne's eyes brightened. The small white rabbit was replaced by a curious cat, "Wow! You're so strong, Lucilline! I didn't expect you to be such a skilled fighter!"

"Naturally," Lucilline couldn't stop showing off. "This Master is skilled in all aspects."

In the back, Azalea, "..." He felt like a third wheel.

"Alright," Lucilline clapped. "What happened? Why did those goons mess with you?"

Daphnne shook her head. "No idea. But they did say something similar to wanting us to avoid you... Maybe they're jealous? After all, Lucilline, there must be many people in school who admires you."

Lucilline felt quite happy. It turned out that he was such a likeable character in the people's eyes...

Wait- He suddenly came to a stop. "...you guys were going to avoid me?"

Immediately, the two protagonists felt like they were doused in cold water. Their bodies stiffened, as the truth was unbearable to hear. It felt like their limbs had been frozen in glaciers, preventing them from moving.

Rigidly, Azalea was the first to admit. "Yes."

As a righteous person, he decided to tell the truth. "I was the one who thought it'd be good to not mess with them. They threatened Daphnne and I with bankrupting the innkeeper. Therefore, I thought it'd be wise to avoid you."

Lucilline's gaze darkened. "You do realize that I can stop any potential bankruptcy?"

Azalea nodded. "Yes. Daphnne wanted to tell you, but I forced her into avoiding you with me."

Although the male lead appeared as calm as an iceberg, inwardly, he was sweating from head to toe. Azalea could hardly resist the strong gaze directed at himself from Lucilline.

"Oh." Lucilline turned to look at Daphnne.

The heroine tensed up at her new friend's gaze. She felt like sweat began to break out from her body's every single pore. Daphnne could hardly breathe-

"I understand now." Lucilline brightened up.

All of a sudden, he curled an arm around Daphnne's. "Since Azalea wanted to avoid me, then let him avoid me. Come on, Daphnne. Let's go skip class together and avoid Azalea!"

Daphnne was alarmed.

She let herself be dragged by Lucilline, leaving her childhood friend, Azalea behind in the dust. Somehow, a feeling of overjoy had plundered her chest. Daphnne was quite confused. Why was she so gleeful? Perhaps, even though she was childhood friends with Azalea, they never really relaxed around one another.

However, with Lucilline, things were different.

Daphnne felt like she could open herself up, like a sunflower's petals, blooming open to illuminate the world in its bright and kindling beauty.

The avoided Azalea, "..." Was this the consequence of his choice?

*****

There was a bunker underground. A man disguised in a heavy black cloak had unlocked the door, entering the bunker with ease.

Upon entering, the cloaked man was greeted by the sight of a throne.

On the throne sat a young man, who had handsome facial features. The only thing quite distinguishable about the man was the tattoo "K" slashed across his cheek.

The cloaked man bowed to the man on the throne, "Leader."

His leader was the man on the throne, with the "K" on his cheek. The "K" man leaned leisurely in his throne, awaiting for his subordinate's report.

"I have witnessed a member of M on the scene." The subordinate reported. "The male lead and heroine were cornered in the alleyway as per the original plot line. However, in the original, Azalea fought back against the bullies. This lead to the inn going bankrupt, and he had to work at a part time job."

The subordinate's eyes flashed a strange colour. "However, this time, Azalea didn't fight back. He allowed himself to be cornered, and decided to be pushed around by the bullies. What could possibly be the cause for the change?"

Leader "K" had supported his cheek with a fist. "Interesting."

He smiled, "It seems that M is still cowering in the dark, like the manipulators they are." The smile had been erased, and a displeased frown replaced it. "What did the other members learn of?"

The subordinate shuddered. "One of the members... Member Augustine has gone missing."

Leader "K" had immediately stood up from his throne. "Do you know of his latest location?"

The subordinate didn't dare to look at Leader "K"'s face. "I've heard that Member Augustine was sent to assassinate the great villain. He failed, since Lucilline Rubius is still alive and at school. However, Member Augustine's statuses are... currently unknown."

All of a sudden, the bunker door was opened.

In came two familiar men. If Lucilline was there, he would've recognized them as "Bob" and "Bill".

Bob had bowed at Leader K, "Leader! We've found Member Augustine!"

Leader K's facial features had softened. He sighed, "What is his current status?"

"He..." Bill shook his head. "Member Augustine has been taken in by the great villain, becoming his butler. There is evidence that Member Augustine leaked information to Lucilline Rubius. Additionally, there is a possibility that..." The subordinate's expression was dark, "That Augustine might've been marked by the Sequence Contract."

The bunker fell silent.